USA's Bode Miller blames course for disappointing finish

American skier Bode Miller has blamed the downhill course in Sochi for failing to make the podium in the men's event at the Winter Olympics.

The 36-year-old, who wore the No. 15 bib during the race, finished eighth.

"Everyone in the middle section of the course was losing five, six tenths of a second, even more in some cases," the Colorado Daily quotes him as saying. "Twenty minutes of time (in the start order), or half an hour of time, makes a massive difference in snow conditions.

"I didn't really make any mistakes in the middle and bottom of the course, and lost a ton of time. The training runs were blue bird, perfect visibility and hard snow. That's the perfect conditions to see who's the best racer.

"[On Sunday] the visibility went away, temperatures are warmer, the course breaks down a little bit. High humidity in that middle [section], where it's all ice, the high humidity brings the water out. The snow just gets slower."

Matthias Mayer of Austria won the gold medal.